It seems to make sense to begin these posts with one about how Sheep Dreamzzz came about. After this they'll be more random, a mix between the past and present, like new baby photos sent in from customers and updates from the knitters in Nicaragua.
Our first granddaughter, Sarah Kate, was born in July of 2017. She's the model in many of our photos.
Sandy (my wife, and the brains behind Sheep Dreamzzz) wanted to knit a baby blanket for Sarah Kate and settled on a peach-colored one with a bunch of fluffy sheep on it. She found a great soft yarn called Angel and made the blanket. People loved it and thought others would too.
Suddenly it entered Sandy's mind that she could help women where we work in Nicaragua to earn income for their families by knitting. Over 80% of families there are run by women and jobs are very scarce.
In 2018 we took yarn down and Sandy trained our first two knitters, Deyanira and Argentina (that's them in the main image of this post). What a challenge in a place where nobody knits and one cannot even find yarn or knitting needles!. But Sandy's motto was always, "if you have the perseverance, I have the patience."
Soon women were showing up at the gate of our little farm asking to join up. We were always looking for those in dire circumstances or with no other income source for their families.
Because it takes a lot of practice and trial & error to make one's first decent blanket, we've always paid extra for the first one. I think Deyanira and Argentina received $80 for their first one, which almost certainly turned out to be more than we sold it for. Oh well, getting realistic on pricing can take time.
Since these humble beginnings there have been hundreds of blankets, and the quality is through-the-roof excellent. We currently have 11 women knitting, and they are all real artisans at it. You can read about them here, on the tags we send out with each blanket.
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